Penguin (missile)

The Penguin anti-ship missile (U.S. designation AGM-119), made by Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA)^{[1] [2]} of Norway from the early 1970s and continually upgraded since, is a passive-IR seeker based short-to-medium range naval guided missile. It was the first AShM of the western world with an IR seeker (instead of the commonly used active radar technology). The Penguin can be fired singly or in coordinated-arrival salvoes. Propelled by a solid rocket engine, it performs random weaving maneuvres at target approach and hits the target close to the waterline. Of the western inventory of such missiles, it is the only variant that performs a terminal bunt and weave manoeuvre. The modified 120 kg warhead detonates inside the target ship by using a delay fuze.

In its various versions, the Penguin can be launched from a number of different weapons platforms:

• Surface vessels: Missile boats (its initial application) as well as larger ships
• Fighter aircraft: certified for F-16
• Helicopters (certified for the following aircraft):
  • Bell 412 SP
  • Kaman SH-2 Seasprite
  • Sikorsky S-70 series (SH-60 Seahawk, UH-60 Black Hawk)
  • Westland Super Lynx

KDA's successor to the Penguin is the Naval Strike Missile (NSM), offered from 2007 onwards. NSM features an imaging IR-seeker, GPS navigation, a turbojet sustainer engine (for much longer ranges: 150+ km), and significantly more computer performance and digital signal processing power.

Operators

 Norway

In service with both the Royal Norwegian Navy (since 1972) and Royal Norwegian Air Force (since 1989)

 Turkey

In service with the Turkish Navy (since 1972)

 Greece

In service with the Hellenic Navy (since 1980)

 Sweden

In service with the Swedish Navy (since 1980)

 United States

In service with the United States Navy as the AGM-119 (since 1994)

 Australia

Purchased for service with the Royal Australian Navy's now cancelled Super Seasprite helicopters

 Spain

In service with the Spanish Navy (since 2003)

 South Africa

In service with the South African Air Force

 Brazil

Acquired for use in Brazilian Navy's S-70B helicopters^[3]

Notes

1. ^ Early development of the Penguin was done by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (NDRE; Norw. FFI) during the 1960s.
2. ^ Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace (KDA) was formerly a part of Kongsberg Våpenfabrikk (KV) (1814–1986) and Norsk Forsvarsteknologi (NFT) (1987–1994), and is now part of Kongsberg Gruppen (KOG).
3. ^ Diário Oficial da União

External links

• Video of ship-launched Penguin Mk2 missiles being test fired in Norway – By the RNoN 22nd FPB Squadron
• South African Air Force Mirage F1AZ armed with Penguin Missiles
• Official Penguin webpage (KDA)
• Missile.index search – Choose* Development-Country: "Norway", then pick "Penguin" from the results list
  (* direct linking to subpages is not possible at this website)